Speaking for myself; I do not hate the government by any means. But I think the government in its current state is a long way from the "government for the people, by the people, and of the people" that it should be. We should not be relying on the government for our means of survival. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said that a government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have. The government should answer to us, not the other way around. We, as individuals, should be self-sufficient, and not have to depend on the government to take care of us. It's great that the government has programs that helps its citizens in need, and we should support those programs; but not to the extent that we cannot survive without them. When the government gets too large, it will become uncontrollable and unmanageable and we the people will lose control of it. When that happens, the America that we know will cease to exist. Our forefathers warned us about letting the government get out of control. We should heed their warning. So personally, I do not hate the government by any stretch of the imagination, quite the opposite. But I do want the government to be what it was intended to be. The government should be the mortar that holds the bricks of this nation together, not the whole dang building.

So I would advise everyone to be very cautious about accepting FEMA aid. They did the same to my wife and I after Hurricane Ivan. We accepted FEMA payment for damages to our home caused by Ivan. After the money was spent on home repairs, FEMA sent us notice and demanded we pay the money back in full within 30 days. There was no explanation why, just that they paid us in error. This was after a long and tedious application process and months of waiting (stalling). A call to our US Representative (Bob Bonner) finally rectified the situation. Now I could have understood this if we had lied on our application, or had misrepresented ourselves or our claim in ANY way, but such was not the case. A FEMA worker inspected our damage and encouraged us to file, we did and like I said, after a long wait we were approved only to receive notice we would have to repay after the money was spent.

DITTO! That works both ways there, hater. Don't force your views on me, and I won't force mine on you. You know what part of the human anatomy that opinions are comparable to? I'm sure you do not want see mine no more than I want to see yours! So if you want me to keep mine to myself, you should do the same.

You see, you just can't please some people no matter how hard you try. You can coddle the rattlesnake if you want, or you can cut off his head and throw him in the fire, but don't be shocked if you decide to coddle him and you get bit. You can go on in your blindness and think that the "vast majority" of Muslims wish us no harm if you want, but the fact remains that of all the terrorist attacks on western society in the past several decades the "vast majority" was carried out by Muslims. Coddle them if you wish, but don't be surprised when another attack happens, and another, and another...

@ tcarl- But don't you understand, these terrorists WANT to die! Death itself is not a deterrent to terrorists, it is an encouragement, a chance to become a martyr, a hero in the eyes of other terrorists. But to be disgraced in death is an abomination. It's not vengeance as much as a deterrent, an act to discourage others. When criminals want to go to jail, then it is no longer punishment to send them there. When terrorists want to die for their cause, then death is not punishment. I do not wish to "insult" innocent people of the Muslim faith who have not harmed anyone, but we have to find ways to discourage Islamic terrorism. All of us are guilty of underestimating these terrorists. That is why they can successfully carry out these acts like 9/11. We think of things in Western terms. Here death is the ultimate punishment. To them it is the ultimate honor.

"Traditional Islamic procedures for handling the remains were followed, the officials said, including washing the corpse, placing it in a white sheet."

I think that when an Islamic terrorist that is responsible for killing innocent Americans is caught and killed, we should use the opportunity to send a clear message to the other terrorists. If you take American lives, then we will hunt you down, kill you, and do everything possible to dishonor you in death. We will grease your body down with pork fat, and bury you naked and in disgrace. I'm tired of coddling these terrorists in the name of political correctness and fear of offending them.

And in response to blacksmurf: Obama is no more responsible for killing Osama than Bush was for capturing Saddam. They may have authorized the respective operations that resulted in the captures, but any sitting president would have done the same. The proper credit should go to our military and intelligence personnel who actually found and killed him.

"BDRT.....JD'S article had much more to say about the 'issues at hand' than just the 'childish rant' that you rant about." Really? And what "issues at hand" did he talk about? Unemployment? The economy? The three wars we are fighting? Fuel prices? The national deficit? Border security? No, he took a shot at "birthers", the tea party, and "that thing on Trump's head".

"JD is a humorist." Perhaps, but not a very good one. And no, I'm not a tea party member, a 'birther", a Trump supporter, or for that matter a Republican. I'm not afraid of people carrying guns to political events. What I AM afraid of is that if we do not get things under control (ie, the huge and growing national deficit, our too open borders, etc.) this nation as we know it may cease to exist. THAT IS WHAT I'M CONCERNED WITH. Who gives a rodent's rectum what the "birthers", or tea partiers, or any of these fringe political groups say when they are not harming anyone? I'm much more concerned with what the people who are in positions of power (ie, the president, congress, etc.) do or say.

While you and JD are making fun of people's hair and are scared to death of right wing extremists, our leaders are spending trillions of dollars that we don't have on things we don't need. While you are ringing your hands worried about American citizens carrying guns, our borders are open to drugs, gangsters, and terrorists. While you are fighting with the "birthers" our gas prices are soaring with no end in sight. While you were busy keeping watch on the tea party movement, our president got us into yet another war we can ill afford. These are some of the things I'm concerned with!

Yeah, let's discredit the man because he has funny looking hair! But then, wouldn't we have to discredit Obama because he has big ears? Or we could just be adults and judge a candidate by the issues at hand and his ability/disability to handle those issues and his/her integrity instead of how they look. I'm sorry JD, though I do not agree with a lot of your viewpoints, I have always respected you. I lost quite a bit of that respect with this childish rant. You are on the same level as a third grade bully who picks on other kids on the playground because of their physical shortcomings. While you're at it, why don't you spread rumors that he eats boogers and has cooties? I do not know which presidential candidate I will vote for in 2012, but I hope I'm adult enough to ignore their physical appearance and base my decision on their abilty to do the job and lead this nation.

Some old-timers swore by Pine-Sol. So much so that some would bathe with it. They said it would keep the gnats and mosquitos away. The native Americans along the coast used to use aligator fat rubbed on the skin (the stuff is NASTY).

I don't think the attack, if there was indeed an attack, will garner much sympathy from a Lee County jury. I think Harvey and Threatt are pushing for a change of venue and this attack, if there was indeed an attack, will go a long ways to accomplish that. People in Lee County want to hang him from the poisoned oaks. Most people in the rest of the state (and nation) sees this for what it is, a stupid act by a stupid person, but not a matter of life and death. I predict that he will be convicted of this senseless act, but his punishment, while disappointing to irrational Auburn fans, will be fair for the crime committed. He will spend little if any time in jail, several years on probation, and maybe some community service and/or restitution.

I think the coaching staff has some things to work on with the QBs and WRs (as well as the rest of the team). What we saw on A-day was a little different from what we'll be seeing in the regular season. The majority of offensive plays were basic vanilla pass plays. I expect a LOT more running packages, and more aggressive style of play. The game exposed some weaknesses, which is what it is designed to do, which I'm sure will be addressed in summer and fall camp. The D was very good, but there is ALWAYS room for improvement. I'm not too concerned about this upcomng season. I'm pretty excited about it.